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Rehoboth wastewater outfall pipe

Sorry if this is a redundant post but I dont think the first one loaded and this is time sensitive.

On sept 21, there will be a hearing on the proposed Rehoboth Ocean outfall. They want to build a pipe to send the treated wastewater into the Rehoboth beach ocean. This is a monumental decision to be made as it will impact our ocean environment to unknown degrees. Rob Stickels (a former sussex co administrator and representative) said, "Rehoboth is a financial jewel for delaware". So why cut corners when the potential exists to ruin such a paramount place to visit?

The delaware bay is a known migratory route for many recreational and commercial fish and provides critical spawning and feeding grounds and nursery areas for many species. Treated wastewater is known to contain large amounts of estrogen which disrupts fish development and actually causes feminization in fish. In other words, you cant reproduce without males= no more fish to catch/eat. Also, estrogen accumulates in fish fat and when you eat it.....guess what? Did someone say manboobs or worse now your kid has a man-gina. Although some Rehoboth residents would enjoy this, I think that is weird.

Its simple to think that this hormone will only affect fish. There is more information known about the moon than there is about the delaware bay. Scientists have only begun to scratch the surface of info about the delaware bay. So to go ahead and dump there is highly irresponsible. Horseshoe crab eggs are the food that supports a variety of common, threatened, and endangered birds like the Red Knot. There is potential that estrogen could alter the reproduction of these crabs and several species of birds could go extinct.

No farms no food-

Land based application not only recharges groundwater but it helps protect against salt water intrusion. The more water we suck out of the ground, the more salt water intrudes into our groundwater. Sea level rise is happening now, it is proven. DNREC is putting a lot of time and energy to combat this problem and we have one way to possibly help. So to pump all this water into the ocean is a waste when it could recharge groundwater and fight intrusion at the same time. How much money will we spend on fresh water when all we get is salt water from our wells?

Costs-

$50 million for land based application

$35 million for the proposed ocean outflow

.....a difference of $15 million. Rehoboth pays $30 million to replenish the beach with sand every 3 years. I witnessed this sand get removed from the beach firsthand by one single noreaster. If one storm costs $30 million, how can we justify saving a measly $15 million. How much is our fishery worth.....$a million, a billion, a trillion? Its only worth $15 million to the people that support the outfall pipe. Gerard Esposito, Tidewater utilities executive vice president said "costs of the options have not been fully vetted and the ocean outfall is more expensive than they think". Has anyone taken into consideration that they will die in the next 50 or less years and that their decision will last longer than they live? Will our children suffer the effects of the environmental ramifications and expenses. What is $15 million in 50 years from now? I heard they are printing money like its going out of style (which it actually is). We may not have the resources in the future to just say ok we were wrong now lets fix it. Just spend the measly money while we have it.

Rehoboth is basing their decision purely on economics and costs to Rehoboth residents based on flawed studies comparing ocean discharge to land based application. DNREC, the farm bureau, and delaware legislature have all expressed support (all based on sound science and not personal gain) for conserving freshwater, preserving farmland, and reducing unnecessary harm to the environment by supporting land based application. But money is more important than science and quality of life anymore......for some. Lets not listen to the science based organizations with nothing to gain either way, lets just listen to the people who want to save their money.

Interesting article about pharmaceuticals found in fish near wastewater outflow.

I surf all winter right next to the now 4 mile long wastewater pipe in San Diego. It is terrible.

I don't think that Deleware would have the same issues with the system that SD does, I.E. whenever it rains, which is rarely, the entire cities sewage systems get flooded. The whole system city wide hasn't been worked in since the 60s or so, so not only do all the pipe overflow, Giant debris gets caught in the turbines in the system, causing the whole system to go into emergency mode. At this point, there are 1 or 2 options. Option 1 = Let the system do its thing and the Point Loma plant would litterally overflow with human feces... Or 2, you just open the "Flood Gate" and instead of letting the partially treated sewage out, they just open the pipe and let MILLIONS of gallons of RAW waste go out into the ocean...

And in the past, the city had to pay heafty, multi million dollar fines when doing this, because it VIOLATES THE CLEAN WATER ACT!...

Now, with the bad economy, the crooked politicians got San Diego passed as a City who no longer has to pay the fines... So, rather than put the fines back into fixing the faulty system, they OWE NOTHING now, and let raw waste run into our ocean...

Pretty cool...

You guys definately dont want this.... And there is NO NEED FOR IT IN DELEWARE!!!

That is just stupid. There is more than enough space to find alternative treatment methods and installing new plants.

Using the Chesapeake Bay, the DW Bay, or the Atlantic should be ABSOLUTELY out of the question....

I mean, PEOPLE ARE FU**ING NUTS!!! I mean, do you really have to be a surfer to get pissed off about this. Even if I never got in the ocean, I would understand why this sounds so AS$ backwards...

Good luck. Everyone should show up and vote. But let me tell you, Money talks, so the fact that you are already voting on it makes it too late. The crooked local politicians are already in bed with whoever is funding this, so its too late. They will let you all voice your opinions, and in the end, they will do what is best for all the local busniess' pockets.

Its jsut CRAZY to me how all the hotels and local businesses in the midatlantic totally disregard the environmental issues surrounding their facilities. WHY DO THEY THINK PEOPLE COME THERE!!!! Not for their sh**y hotel. ITS FOR THE OCEAN!!!! NO OCEAN, NO BUSINESS....

Do we really have to relive the Jersey Shore?statin Island incident in the 80s and watch the local beach economies tank again....

ohh boy, I cant wait to surf North OC MD in years to come. When there is a nice South Drift coming down the DE coast, I will duck dive and come up with a mouthful of someone else's dingleberries!!! Awesome. Can't wait.

The Center for the Inland Bays is against the land based application of the treated sludge as it will just leach into the inland bays and increase the problems of high bacteria and nutrient overload. I say build the pipe.

The Center for the Inland Bays is against the land based application of the treated sludge as it will just leach into the inland bays and increase the problems of high bacteria and nutrient overload. I say build the pipe.

Yeah, so instead of the inland bays having higher bacteria levels, it will be assawoman bay, the DE bay and the entire continental shelf will be over run with high bacteria levels... If you think that in the summer, when the water is warm, and super flat, the the slow leak of millions of gallons of "partially treated sewage" a few miles off your coast will not increase bacteria levels is just not true.

Look at the coastal water surrounding any of the sweage pipes that are already built in the ocean. They shut down my local beaches at least twice a year because of the RIDICULOUSLY high bacteria levels.

So, damned if you do, damned if you dont. But dont let your local governement take the easy way out. They are paid to be in office. THEIR JOB is to solve the people problems, and when they give you a solution that could potentially harm our coastal waters, you must oppose it.

You know what, it will save tax payers money in the long run if you build the pipe. The MAJORITY of citizens in the state will benefit from it, but at what cost. At what point to you just have to put your foot down and say, money doesnt matter when it comes to the ocean.

Just like we all thought it was a great ideal to drill off shore.

Once they have a malfunction, and the DE coast is shut down for 2 weeks because its filled with human sh**, you wont agree with them.

There is NOTHING beneficial about this for the environment. Nothing at all. It is all negative, so I find it difficult to support it in any way

The Center for the Inland Bays is against the land based application of the treated sludge as it will just leach into the inland bays and increase the problems of high bacteria and nutrient overload. I say build the pipe.

Rehoboth is under a court order from the EPA to cease the land based application currently in use as it is causing high bacteria and nutrient overload. They apply the wastewater onto fields adjacent to the lewes and rehoboth canal with no real buffers to filter out these bacteria and nutrients. If the right system is employed, the buffers can significantly reduce these harmful bacteria and nutrients. If you pump into the ocean there is no buffer to soak up these bacteria and nutrients.

Hint- surfrider foundation is opposed to the ocean outfall pipe. The guy from wilmington says build the pipe. I know a guy from PA who has a house in Rehoboth and he is going to the meeting in favor of the pipe.
A smart guy once said.....
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."

Do you have a vested interest in the ocean?

"human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
Einstein

Im not a DE resident, so I really don't have a voice, but I am a MD native and frequent the OC coast all the time. It would be a shame if the entire tri-state area had to suffer because of DE government. Im just speaking as a citizen of a state and of a city that has one of these pipes. And it has been nothing but heart break with the pipe.

Back in 2007, THE ENTIRE LOBSTER AND SHELL FISH POPULATION was damaged and rendered POISIONOUS. THE ENTIRE 80 mile stretch of coast was RUINED. No shellfish of the local SD seafloor was sold or eaten. It destroyed local fisherman. Destroyed them....

Im not a fisherman by trade, or for money. But I LOVE paddling out on the reefs and dropping lobster nets and enjoying seafood. The entire fishing community in SD was rocked by this.

So, this is a topic that probably didnt even make national news over in the mid-atlantic.

But surfers couldnt surf in OB/MD/PB/IB for weeks. I had to drive up to San Onofre to surf for weeks.

Its just bad for business... trust me when I tell you.

So, the city had to pay 2 million dollars, but they leaked like 480 MILLION gallons of raw waste, the accumulated on our Reefs, on our piers, on our jetties and KILLED OUR ANIMALS... KILLED them.

You would be duck diving and dead lobster carcuses are hitting you in the face under water. You get out of the water, 2 months after the sewage spill, and you are still stepping on old discarded lobster shells.... DEATH DEATH DEATH.... from your lovely pipe.

Look past your own local propoganda and media to find the truth... Cause they are selling you guys right up the river....

ohh boy, I cant wait to surf North OC MD in years to come. When there is a nice South Drift coming down the DE coast, I will duck dive and come up with a mouthful of someone else's dingleberries!!! Awesome. Can't wait.

Yes, two big mistakes right there. First you have three outfalls, then four, etc. The human population is growing exponentially. Its not going to stop at the Rehoboth outfall. They will keep putting them in until.......what happens. That is the question. Were not saying that land based application is the key but that it is determined to be the better option through sound science. Its a collection of Universities, governing agencies, scientists, and scholars that study this and say.....we can do this and save a bunch of money and see what happens......or......lets take a step back and do it right. The main issue at hand is time. The court order gives a cutoff date to stop current LBA practices. Rehoboth is trying to get the ball rolling so when the time comes they are not stuck without wastewater treatment facilities. We all know whos interest the city of Rehoboth has in mind......its not surfers or the people that use the beach everyday. They are geared towards tourists. Tourists=money. No amount of money can buy our ocean back!!!

The problems Zach speaks of are from discharge during overloads, because many cities have sewer and stormwater combined. During a big rain event, they system cannot treat the combined flows, and bypass the treatment process and directly discharge. This results in raw untreated sewage making it into the ocean. The Rehoboth outfall is completely independant of stormwater, and handles just sewage flow. All of the water will be treated to levels deemed safe by the EPA to discharge into small inland waterways (i.e. rivers, bays), let alone an ocean. I guarantee you the "treated" water coming out of the end of that pipe will be cleaner than what is coming out of our tax ditches and rivers into the inland bays after agriculture run-off.

I surf right where they propose the pipe to discharge offshore and have absolutely no issue with it. As for the untreated stormwater that discharges from the pond behind the henlopen into the ocean at Grenoble street though....I do have a problem with that.

Instead of screaming wolf, do a little due diligence. Whereever this water is discharged, it will eventually end up in the ocean. And we are talking about treated effluent...not raw sewage.

And the groundwater recharge arguement was taken based on application in arid regions like California. Do you actually live in Delaware? Have you seen what happens after an inch of rain. Groundwater is one resource we have more than enough of....Our soils are so oversaturated, none of the application will infiltrate, it's going to simply runoff into the smaller inland streams and ditches, where what remaining concentrations in the effluent will have a greater effect because of the smaller water source.